When Granger met Malfoy
by The Lost Kid
Summary: Just what did Draco and Hermione think of each other when they first met? Come to think of it, when did they first meet? Prequel to my DarkSpawn series. Oneshot I may add to it if I get the time.


_Oneshot. This is a prequel to my fanfiction series DarkSpawn. Draco admitted to having a crush on Hermione since first year so I wanted to create a little scene in which such feelings could be allowed to blossom. I hope you enjoy, and please leave me some comments._

"... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon" said Hermione, jumping to her feet and turning to the compartment door - neither she nor Neville noticed the expression of relief Ron and Harry shared as they left the compartment.

"I'm never going to find him" Neville sniffed miserably.

"Don't give up yet" said Hermione, putting a hand on his shoulder. "There are still lots of compartments we haven't checked yet."

She watched helplessly as a large fat tear rolled down Neville's plump cheek, and then wrinkled her nose as he wiped his nose on his sleeve. _Ew!_

"Why don't we split up?" she suggested, trying to fill her voice with optimism. "You go this way," she waved her hand to the right "and I'll go this way" she pointed left "we'll find Terry-"

"Trevor" corrected Neville, wiping his nose on his sleeve again.

"... Yes ..." _Ew! Use a handkerchief for heaven's sake _she thought, focussing to keep the revulsion over his bad hygiene out of her voice "Trevor, I mean ... we'll find him in no time."

"Okay" sighed Neville, shuffling off in the direction she'd indicated.

Satisfied that he'd actually followed her suggestion she turned and strolled down the corridor in the opposite direction and stopped at the next compartment. Without hesitating she slid back the door and peered inside. A group of older students, three boys and a girl, most likely third or fourth years looked up curiously at the intrusion. Never one to be intimidated, Hermione took a breath and tilted her chin in defiance.

"Has anyone seen a toad?" she asked politely, "A boy named Neville has lost one."

The four teenagers glanced at each other, smirks breaking out on their faces. Hermione pretended not to notice while she waited for her answer.

"No, I don't think we have" said a boy with large blue eyes sitting by the window, his smirk turning into a wide stupid grin. Hermione struggled to keep her own expression polite; she knew a patronising tone when she heard it.

"Wait! Don't move Lauren!" cried a boy with dirty blonde hair, who was seated next to the only girl. He grabbed the hem of her mini skirt and tried to yank it up over her legs.

"OY!" she screeched, slapping the boy's hand away and tugging her skirt down as far as it would go (_not very far at all _thought Hermione in disgust.) "Piss off Sam, you pervert!" she hissed, her face blushing beetroot red.

"Sorry Lauren," said the blonde boy, not sounding the least bit repentant "thought I saw the toad for a minute there - wouldn't want you getting any warts down there" he chortled, while the other boys crowed with laughter.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Thanks anyway" she muttered turning to leave, not sparing any more civility on a bunch of idiots like this.

"Like the hair, by the way" said the girl giggling.

Hermione's back stiffened for a moment, but she refused to turn around and give them the satisfaction of seeing the hurt in her eyes. Pretending like she hadn't heard anything she left, sliding the door closed on their laughter with perhaps more force than was necessary. She took a calming breath to compose herself then continued left down the corridor. The next compartment she tried was occupied by twin girls, first years like her, _what a relief!_

"Have either of you seen a toad by any chance?" she asked. "A boy named Neville is looking for one, and he's going to be ever so upset if we don't find it."

"Sorry, no" said one of the twins, shaking her head.

"But we'll keep an eye out for it. Does it have a name?" asked the other twin.

"Yes, it's called Trevor. And he belongs to Neville Longbottom. I'm Hermione, by the way, Hermione Granger."

"Padma and Parvati Patil, nice to meet you" said the first twin.

"You too" Hermione smiled.

"Hi" said the second twin with a slight wave.

"Well I better keep looking" Hermione sighed. "Goodbye."

"Bye" said the twins in unison.

Hermione glanced out the windows as she walked, noticing that the sky outside was slowly getting darker. She was just thinking that she would maybe abandon the search for Trevor for the time being and ask the driver how much longer it would take them to reach Hogwarts when a sudden commotion up ahead made her head snap back to the corridor. Four or five teenage boys, older than the ones she'd met a few minutes ago, were hurtling down the corridor towards her, apparently having some sort of race or so it appeared to Hermione. They were so busy laughing and shouting and pushing each other about while they ran, that they didn't seem to notice the small first year standing in the corridor (_or perhaps they just don't care if they flatten me _thought Hermione, disgruntled). Hastily she flattened herself against the wall before the boys could run her down. They charged past her, still apparently oblivious to her presence.

"Oomph!" she grunted, as one of the boys, a large brawny one, knocked a shorter slimmer one into the right side of Hermione's small body. And then, only a moment later "Ouch!" she cried as somebody's elbow connected sharply with the top of her skull.

"Oops! Sorry kid!" she heard one of them call, as they continued to charge down the corridor like a heard of rowdy wildebeest.

"Yeah right!" she muttered, glaring after them and rubbing her head. "OH!" she gasped falling backwards, realising too late that she had in fact leaned against one of the compartment doors and not the corridor wall as she'd thought.

"Whoa!" she heard a voice behind her cry, at the same moment a pair of arms tried to catch her. Unfortunately her rescuer didn't seem to be much taller than her, or possess the strength to stop the force of her fall and they both toppled to the floor; Hermione landing on top of her would-be-saviour, her backside crushing something soft and definitely male - judging by the grunt of pain she heard expel from the soft chest beneath her.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered, mortified.

"Could you ... shift your weight, ever so slightly" groaned a boy's voice (_of course it's a boy I've just crash landed on his - GAH!_) muffled slightly by the frenzy of curls in his face.

"Of course, I'm sorry, really sorry!" squeaked Hermione, her cheeks ablaze, wriggling her body to the side slightly.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!" the boy sighed in relief, his breath ruffling Hermione's curls. "Thank you" she heard him whisper.

Hermione tried to reassess her new position, afraid she might be hurting the boy again. (_How embarrassing! _She thought; her cheeks still on fire. _This is awful!_) With a jolt of horror she suddenly realised that her bottom was now perched on his left hip bone. Quickly she tried to sit up, but pale hands held her fast and she bumped back against the boy's chest, her head barely avoiding hitting him in the face.

"OW!" she hissed, pain suddenly flaring in her chest. Glancing down she noticed with a sort of detached horror that the boy had his hands clamped to her upper chest, the tender parts of her chest, where her nipples were. Her mother had explained over the summer what this new and confusing pain meant; it was because she was now at an age where she would start developing breasts. _Ew! What an awful conversation that ...Oh My God!_ Hermione's horror reattached itself _He's touching me where ... where I'm ... where my - Aaaaagh!_

"May I get up please?" she mumbled, humiliation licking at her insides like an inferno.

"What? Oh! I beg your pardon" said the boy, his hands flinching off her body like he'd been burned; making her wonder if he had felt the heat of her humiliation burning in her chest.

Hermione sprang to her feet, keeping her eyes resolutely in front of her, even when she heard the boy stand behind her. She busied herself by brushing her hands down her uniform, making sure everything was in place, waiting for the heat in her cheeks to fade. Finally when there was nothing else she could do to avoid him any longer she took a steadying breath and faced him. He had his back to her, and was patting his hands down his uniform in an identical manner to the way she had done. Impatient to get this 'thank you' over and done with, so she could escape and forget this entire incident, Hermione cleared her throat imperiously. The boy froze, and then slowly turned. Hermione gasped.

The boy had a shock of white-blonde hair which he was hastily slicking back over his head where it had fallen out of place in the fall, he skin was pale, snow-white like marble, he had a long aristocratic face with refined features and high cheekbones peeking out through his baby fat, his chin was pointed but distinguished, his eyes were a striking shade of mercury grey and framed by long dark lashes, and his mouth was a soft pink with full curved lips. _Lovely,_ thought Hermione. He looked like someone who ought to be on television, or in the movies or in a boy band, not someone on his way to a fancy, magical boarding school. She opened her mouth to speak, only to discover her mind had gone curiously blank.

While Hermione struggled to remember what it was she had wanted to say, the boy studied her as meticulously as she'd studied him. He was drawn first, unsurprisingly, to her hair. He had never seen anything quite like it in all his life; it was completely _wild_. Thick bushy curls, almost negro-like in texture, framed her face and tumbled down her slim shoulders like a lion's mane. The boy found himself quite taken by the colour which was a rich chestnut brown with golden highlights and chocolate and auburn undertones. Eventually his silver eyes moved to her face. It was heart-shaped, quite pretty, and flushed pink from Hermione's fading blush. _Adorable _thought the boy, the word just popping into his head and surprising him. Her eyes were chocolate brown, large and doe-like with long black eyelashes. She had a straight pretty nose dusted with freckles, and a perfect bow-shaped mouth with rosy pouting lips that were parted around long front teeth - which, in the boy's opinion, didn't spoil her prettiness in any way. The boy had never looked at a girl like the way he was looking at Hermione Granger right now, nor had he ever had any inclination to before this very moment. He wanted to tell her that he thought she was the prettiest girl - besides his mother of course - that he had ever met, but all he could manage was "Hello".

Hermione blinked several times before she could find her voice again, _even his voice is lovely,_ she thought to herself.

"Hello ... I-I'm Hermione Granger" she stuttered shyly. "Um ... thank you for catching me ... and I'm s-sorry I knocked you to the ground too."

"No need to apologise, it was my pleasure, trust me" said the boy smirking. _Did I just say that out loud?!!_ He thought incredulously. "I'm Draco by the way, Draco Malfoy."

"Draco? That's an unusual name" said Hermione, thinking aloud.

"So is Hermione" replied Draco, smirking again.

"Yes, I suppose it is" she admitted, smiling shyly.

They stood there for a few minutes in silence, Draco's eyes fixed to Hermione's face as she struggled to keep her own gaze on her shoes and keep the blush from returning to her cheeks.

"I-I should go" she said at length.

"Oh. Alright" said Draco, disappointed.

"Oh! Have you seen a toad?" she asked suddenly.

"Pardon?" said Draco, the bizarre question taking him by surprise.

"Um, it's just there's a boy, Neville, who's lost a toad, so have you seen one by any chance?" said Hermione in a rush.

"I'm afraid not" replied Draco, one side of his mouth lifting in a crooked grin.

"Well, thanks anyway" and with that she turned toward the door and walked into the corridor, only to find it blocked by two large hulking boys.

"Excuse me please" she said in a polite but authoritative voice.

The two boys leered at her and ignored her request.

"I said, excuse me please! That means you should move out of the way!" said Hermione annoyed.

"And how are you gonna make us, pipsqueak?" grunted the taller boy. Hermione huffed indignantly, _how dare they speak to me like that_.

"What's going on?" said Draco, poking his head out of the compartment. "Crabbe, Goyle, any luck? Did you find him?"

"No, not yet" grumbled the shorter, fatter boy.

"You know these boys?" asked Hermione incredulously, still annoyed.

"Unfortunately" smirked Draco. "Honestly you two are hopeless, obviously if I want to find Potter I'm going to have to look for him myself."

"Harry Potter? He's in the third compartment down" explained Hermione pointing. "Could you ask your 'friends' to let me pass please."

Draco glared at the hulking boys. "You heard the lady, move out the way! Now!"

Hermione was impressed when they did as Draco said without protest; both of them were twice as big as he was, and twice as wide, and could probably knock Draco to the ground with a flick of one of their chunky fingers. It was remarkable that he wasn't the least bit intimidated by them, and a total conundrum why he would choose to be friends with such thugs in the first place.

"Thank you! That wasn't very difficult was it?" said Hermione stiffly, tilting her chin up and fixing them with a fiery glare. "Goodbye" she added in a lighter tone to Draco.

"Bye" said Draco, watching her leave.

"Who was that?" asked Crabbe once Hermione was out of earshot.

"Hermione Granger" answered Draco, a smile playing about his face as he watched her retreating back.

"You reckon she's one of us?" asked Goyle, glaring in her direction.

"Of course she is, isn't it glaringly obvious" snapped Draco. "She carries herself with dignity, and has an air of authority; she's clearly from an old and wealthy wizarding family. So in future you will treat her with the respect her station demands, is that understood?"

"Yes Malfoy" chorused Crabbe and Goyle sullenly.

"Right, let's go introduce ourselves to Potter then" said Draco, marching in the direction Hermione had pointed out.

Hermione wasn't sure she liked the Hogwarts Express driver very much; he didn't seem to appreciate her visit, or her asking how much longer the journey would take, or the questions that followed that. Honestly, anyone would think curiosity was a crime the way he had huffed and puffed as he answered each question with waning patience, and thrown annoyed glares over his shoulder at her as if they were going out of fashion. She didn't bother to ask anyone if they'd seen a toad on the way back; she was beginning to think that Neville's fears were accurate; that he'd left Trevor the toad somewhere on platform nine and three-quarters. The corridors were much fuller now, crowded with students racing back and forth, shouting and laughing and peering out the darkening windows. _Am I the only one capable of behaving on this train?_ Hermione wondered to herself in annoyance. She was almost back at the place where her toad search had started when she heard a horrible yell come from one of the compartments. A few seconds later Draco Malfoy and his too 'friends' rushed out of the same compartment.

"OW! That bloody hurt!" grunted Goyle, sticking his large bolt-like knuckle into his mouth and sucking on it. "Agh! I'm bleeding!"

"And that boys, is exactly why we don't hang out with people like the Weasleys" Draco told them seriously.

"He's going to pay for that!" growled Crabbe.

Draco was just about to agree when he suddenly noticed Hermione standing in the corridor a few feet away. He pulled his face into what he hoped to be a charismatic grin.

"Well, hello again. Did you find your toad yet?" he asked pleasantly.

"No not yet" replied Hermione, walking towards them, wondering why Draco's smile had made her stomach do a summersault. She also wanted to know why Goyle was bleeding, and why the three of them were upset with Ron Weasley.

Draco seemed to sense where she was headed because he suddenly said "I wouldn't go in there if I were you, that Potter boy and his _friend_ aren't very friendly, they may set a rat on you like poor Greg."

"A good thing I'm not afraid of rats then" said Hermione, imitating his smirk. She heard him chuckle as he and his companions took off in the other direction.

She poked her head into Ron and Harry's compartment. "What _has_ been going on?" she asked, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up his rat by the tail.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at the rat. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep."

"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked Harry, still ignoring Hermione.

"Sort of, in Diagon Alley when I went to buy my school robes, he was getting his fitted at the same time" explained Harry.

"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. Hermione rolled her eyes. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."

Hermione's brow knitted together in a confused frown. That couldn't possibly be true could it? Draco had seemed perfectly polite to her. _Even if it is true, that doesn't mean Draco's bad, he can't help who he's related to. Having a father with a shady past doesn't make you a bad person. Does it?_

"Can we help you with something?" said Ron none too politely, finally acknowledging Hermione's presence.

She snapped out of her troubled thoughts, annoyed by Ron's tone. "You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," she lied. They didn't have to know that she'd come in here to try and defend Draco; who had only been eager to meet Harry and had somehow been rebuffed, no doubt due to Ron's prejudice against his family. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

_HA! Take that_ she thought triumphantly, and she turned and left.


End file.
